§ MR. J. E. ELLIS (Nottingham, Rushcliffe)I wish to put a Question to you, Sir, on a point of Order, in reference to the new Rule which was passed on Friday. I wish to know whether, under the new Rule, no Notice of opposition to a Bill or a Motion on the Paper under the half-past 12 o'clock Rule will take place unless the opposition comes from an hon. Member in his place?
§ MR. SPEAKERAs I read the Resolution passed by this House on Friday 1497 last, its purport appears to be this—that after 12 o'clock it is sufficient to retard the further progress of any Bill for any hon. Member to say "I object." I am not prepared to say that the half-past 12 Rule has been abolished; but it has certainly fallen into desuetude, or will fall into desuetude, by the operation of the Rule which was passed on Friday last. But if half-past 12 o'clock be reached I am not prepared to say that the Rule, in regard to what is called a Blocking Motion, would not come into operation; but, as the hon. Member will observe, it is sufficient after 12 to stop the further progress of a Bill by an hon. Member objecting to the time at which it is proposed to bring it on.